Match in Focus: Germany avoid the chaos to progress past Zambia

In a game which at times threatened the chaos we saw from Zambia against Australia, Germany showed their experience to run out 4-1 winners and progress to the quarter-finals.

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It wasn’t quite the chaos we perhaps anticipated, although two goals in as many minutes early in the second half threatened to send us towards a replay of Zambia vs Australia three days ago, but on a hot and humid night in Saint-Etienne, it felt like chaos wasn’t quite what either the Copper Queens or Germany were searching for.

It was the Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller show for the most part, with the Bayern Munich duo on fire and regularly linking up. Bühl got two assists for her club teammate and in between found the net herself with a superb strike from outside the box.

At the other end, Barbra Banda unsurprisingly was Zambia’s great hope of pulling off a result, and got them back in after a blunder from Ann-Katrin Berger, but Germany got the job done and an another less wasteful day, it could have been more.

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It wasn’t spectacular and interim head coach Horst Hrubesch will be concerned to have lost both his centre-backs, one in the warm-up and one 20 minutes into the game, with a quarter-final now less than 72 hours away, such is the brutal schedule of an Olympic Games.

But it is hurdle number one cleared, in a group which could have proven stickier than it did for a Germany team coming into the tournament threatening to under-perform.

Two wins from three games though avoids what happened 12 months ago and ensures they’ll be in action against another runner-up on Saturday in Marseille, with one more win ensuring somewhere down the line they’ll get a shot at a medal.

Here’s five key takeaways from the match in WFC’s view…

Germany stuck, or tried to…

There were a few question marks against this Germany team coming into the tournament, whether that be the specific formation they would line-up in or the personnel within it.

Horst Hrubesch hasn’t been dealt a kind hand, losing Lena Oberdorf to an ACL injury pre-tournament, and then after one game his starting left-back in Sarai Linder.

He looked to stick with the same eleven again against Zambia, but lost centre-back Marina Hegering in the warm-up, and then her defensive partner Kathrin Hendrich just 20 minutes in.

It meant Felicitas Rauch continued at left-back, Bibiane Schulze came in from the start and was joined by Sara Doorsoun after Hendrich went off, and Hrubesch perhaps won’t know yet exactly what he has to choose from with a quarter-final less than three days away.

There is though some consistency in how they’re beginning to perform, in the attack at least with his front four all looking very lively against Zambia.

“It was a tough game, but we won it and we're very happy we're in the next round and we just focus on the next game now,” said Sjoeke Nüsken.

"I'll wait for my goal!” she laughed. “Of course, we want to score goals, we could have scored more goals but another three goals is good, it’s another good result and we just look at Saturday now.”

Klara Bühl and Lea Schüller shine

As mentioned above, it was a good night for the Bayern Munich duo. Bühl had a hand in all three goals, scoring one herself and setting up both Schüller’s goals, while the striker showed her poacher’s instinct, first rolling away from a defender and sending the ball back across the goalkeeper, before finding herself in the right place to slot home her second from a Bühl pull-back in the second half.